Times They Are A-Changin!

This blog is officially going to be interspersed with shorthanded emotional insights. It's warrior-POET mothaflippppp!

That's all really. Enjoy my cellular gifts of perception.

I have a tendency to plan out how i'm going to feel before i go somewhere and it detaches me from real reaction.

Spy Tip 2: Lip Reading

This tip is a little tougher than our first one, but it's an invaluable skill and a really neat trick once you get it down. Lip reading can make you better at espionage and general sneakiness, plus it will also allow you to communicate better. It's another rare talent that has fallen out of style, but now I'm bringing it back!

The best way to start is with DVDs:

1. First watch movies on really low volume. See how low you can go before you can't understand every third word or so.
2. Then turn on the subtitles and turn off the sound. Try to watch the characters' mouths as often as possible while still getting most of the words they're saying.
3. Begin imagining the speakers talking as you read the subtitles and watch the movie.
4. The most important thing to learn is to "hear" the speakers in your head just by seeing their lips move.
5. Start practicing with your friends and a pair of earplugs when you get confident as a beginning lip reader. Ask your friends to repeat or rephrase themselves while speaking normally if you don't get what they're saying.
   
6. The key to mastering this skill is understanding context, facial gestures, and body language. Only about 35% of speech can be discerned from lip movements and everyone has small differences in their speech.

You're on your way to reading lips.
That's all for now!

Spy Tip 1: Amazing Pace

Knowing the length of your pace is uncommon nowadays, despite the fact that 100 years ago, most anyone would have a good guess as to the size. This seemingly obsolete talent is actually a skill among those that are the lifeblood of spies-- it has numerous applications (listed below) and can be pretty impressive if you're just looking for another trick to learn.
However, you can only use your pace if you measure how long it is:

1. Start out by measuring out 15 feet or 5 metres, depending on what country you're in.
2. Walk around casually, not thinking too much about your steps.
   
3. Start counting them without changing your gait (the way you walk).
4. When you're comfortable counting and walking, count the amount of steps it takes you to complete the distance you measured out in step one.
   
5. Repeat this a couple of times for accuracy.
   
6. Divide the distance by the amount of steps it took you to walk across-- this number is the length of your pace.

Using your pace, you can:

• Measure a room and create a floorplan-- pacing out from walls to other landmarks in a room (desks, computers, etc.) is useful for knowing a room at night. If you need help storing the pace data, one of my favourite tricks is to enter a text message into my phone using letters and numbers. i.e. DW8WC5 (Desk to wall, 8 paces. Wall to Cabinet, 5.) --you can convert them into feet or metres later.
• Create a map for stashed items where only you can find them-- unused fields are often good for burying things where people won't find them.
• Figure out how far you are from the nearest exit, plotting an escape route (more on escape routes later).
• You can impress people by randomly knowing distances.

That's pretty much it!